Portable data for mobile devices

Abstract

Network devices register a mobile device to use mobile data with a service provider network and create a default account for the mobile device. The network devices receive, via the mobile device, user credentials to activate a portable data service for the mobile device, and determine that the user credentials correspond to an existing account that is different than the default account for the mobile device. The network devices assign, to the existing account, a temporary mobile directory number (MDN); map the temporary MDN to a unique identifier for the mobile device; and log mobile data use, by the mobile device, using the temporary MDN. The network devices detect a signal to deactivate the portable data service for the mobile device; and creating a billing record based on the logging and associated with the existing account.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method performed by one or more network devices in a service provider network, the method comprising:
 registering a mobile device to use mobile data with a service provider network, the registering including creating a default account for the mobile device; 
 receiving, via the mobile device, user credentials, for a user, to activate a portable data service for the mobile device; 
 determining that the user credentials correspond to an existing account, with the service provider network, that is different than the default account for the mobile device; 
 receiving, from an owner of the existing account, configuration settings for the existing account, the configuration settings including one or more of: a duration of availability for the existing account, types of data accessible through the existing account, an amount of data that can be used by the mobile device, locations where the data can be used, and bandwidth per mobile device; 
 assigning, to the existing account, a temporary mobile directory number (MDN); 
 mapping the temporary MDN to a unique identifier for the mobile device; 
 enforcing the configuration settings; 
 logging mobile data use, used by the mobile device, using the temporary MDN; 
 detecting a signal to deactivate the portable data service for the mobile device; and 
 creating a billing record for the mobile data use of the mobile device, the billing record being based on the logging and associated with the existing account. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , the mobile data including data transferred over a broadband cellular network. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 2 , the one or more network devices including a home subscriber server (HSS) device. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 creating a new user account, including access to an online payment system, when the user credentials do not correspond to any existing account with the service provider network. 
 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , wherein receiving the user credentials to activate the portable data service for the mobile device include:
 receiving the user credentials via a dedicated client application on the mobile device; 
 receiving the user credentials via a browser; or 
 receiving the user credentials via a native experience on the mobile device. 
 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 , wherein logging the mobile data use using the temporary MDN further comprises:
 retroactively associating the temporary MDN with a portion of the mobile data used to receive the user credentials. 
 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the user credentials include:
 a username and password, or 
 a scanned bar code. 
 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the existing account includes:
 a corporate data plan shared among multiple users, or 
 a personal data plan for the user. 
 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 1 , wherein assigning the temporary MDN includes:
 selecting the temporary MDN from a pool of available MDNs. 
 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the unique identifier includes an International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) for the mobile device. 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 disassociating the temporary MDN from the existing account and the unique identifier for the mobile device in response to the detecting. 
 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 returning the temporary MDN to the pool of available MDNs after the disassociating. 
 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 11 , wherein the signal to deactivate the portable data service for the mobile device includes:
 a signal from user input to end the portable data session, 
 a signal of a time limit for the portable data session, or 
 a signal of a data consumption limit of the portable data session. 
 
     
     
       14. One or more network devices, comprising:
 a communications interface to communicate with mobile devices; 
 a memory for storing instructions to be executed by one or more processors; and 
 the one or more processors configured to execute the instructions to:
 register a mobile device to use mobile data with a service provider network, the registering including creating a default account for the mobile device; 
 receive, via the mobile device, user credentials, for a user, to activate a portable data service for the mobile device; 
 determine that the user credentials correspond to an existing account, with the service provider network, that is different than the default account for the mobile device; 
 receive, from an owner of the existing account, configuration settings for the existing account, the configuration settings including one or more of: a duration of availability for the existing account, types of data accessible through the existing account, an amount of data that can be used by the mobile device, locations where the data can be used, and bandwidth per mobile device; 
 assign, to the existing account, a temporary mobile directory number (MDN); 
 map the temporary MDN to a unique identifier for the mobile device; 
 enforce the configuration settings; 
 log mobile data use, used by the mobile device, using the temporary MDN; 
 detect a signal to deactivate the portable data service for the mobile device; and 
 create a billing record for the mobile data use on the mobile device, the billing record being based on the logging and associated with the existing account. 
 
 
     
     
       15. The network device of  claim 14 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
 log additional mobile data use, used by the mobile device, using an MDN from the default account; and 
 create another billing record for the additional mobile data use on the mobile device, the other billing record being based on the logging additional mobile data use and associated with the default account. 
 
     
     
       16. The network device of  claim 14 , wherein, when receiving the user credentials, the one or more processors are further configured to:
 receive the user credentials as mobile data transferred over a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network. 
 
     
     
       17. A non-transitory computer-readable medium, storing instructions executable by one or more processors, the non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions to:
 register a mobile device to use mobile data with a service provider network, the registering including creating a default account for the mobile device; 
 receive, via the mobile device, user credentials, for a user, to activate a portable data service for the mobile device; 
 determine that the user credentials correspond to an existing account, with the service provider network, that is different than the default account for the mobile device; 
 receive, from an owner of the existing account, configuration settings for the existing account, the configuration settings including one or more of: a duration of availability for the existing account, types of data accessible through the existing account, an amount of data that can be used by the mobile device, locations where the data can be used, and bandwidth per mobile device; 
 assign, to the existing account, a temporary mobile directory number (MDN); 
 map the temporary MDN to a unique identifier for the mobile device; 
 enforce the configuration settings; 
 log mobile data use, used by the mobile device, using the temporary MDN; 
 detect a signal to deactivate the portable data service for the mobile device; and 
 create a billing record for the mobile data use on the mobile device, the billing record being based on the logging and associated with the existing account. 
 
     
     
       18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 17 , wherein the instructions to assign the temporary MDN include one or more instructions to:
 select the temporary MDN from a pool of available MDNs. 
 
     
     
       19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 18 , wherein the instructions to receive user credentials include one or more instructions to:
 process the user credentials as a single service sign-on for existing account.